The Petra Zone

p-freak wrote:The good thing about the Word best-ofs is that most of them are remastered. The version of Onward Christian Soldiers on Still Means War is way better sounding than the version from Our Hymns.

"As an artist, I want readers to know that 90 percent of the time theartist has no control over 'best of' compilations, and as in the case of
Whiteheart, frankly I am embarrassed every time another such project comes out. We recorded three albums with Home Sweet Home Records. Since that time they have put out four 'Best Of' albums plus a 'live mono album' (if you could call it that) with the only difference being a different song sequence and different album cover artwork. We recorded three more albums with Sparrow Records, and I felt they had good sensitivity and integrity as they waited a year and put out one 'Best Of' album compiled from those three albums. We recorded an additional three albums for Star Song Communications. When we left Star Song in 1994, together with them we put together a rockumentary 'Best Of' project called, Nothing But the Best--Radio & Rock, a two CD collection that had four additional new songs and showcased our best songs from 1986-1994. This was the very first time we were involved with a 'Best Of,' and I was excited because I felt our listeners and fans would finally receive a Whiteheart 'Best Of' that was a true representation of what God had taken us through during those years. But again to my dismay--only 10 months after Nothing but the Best, Star Song put out another 'Best Of' called Attack!! ,with an exact duplication of 10 of the same songs from Nothing But the Best. Now, I know it's hard to believe, but only six months after Attack!!, Star Song has released yet another compilation album called Whiteheart, The Early Years. Again eight out of the 10 songs are the same as on the Nothing But the Best compilation. I know we might be somewhat popular, but I wonder if even The Beatles have as many compilations as we do! All this to say, I personally don't support this kind of action. It feels exploitive, but there isn't anything that the artist can do in this situation except to let the record company know our feelings on the matter (which is what we did). The next step is to trust and pray that artists, managers, booking agents, sales representatives and record companies would continue the chain with Godly principles and honor as it deals with business practices so that you, the consumer, aren't being taken advantage of. For the most part, I believe this happens in our industry, but sometimes it doesn't. Thank you for your time and attention concerning this important area of music."

Billy Smiley
Whiteheart